U.S. patent number 4,109,974 [Application Number 05/765,620] was granted by the patent office on 1978-08-29 for plain and thrust bearing device.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Fagersta Secoroc AB. Invention is credited to Karl-Erik Kangas, Alf H. Svanstrom.
United States Patent |
4,109,974 |
Svanstrom , et al. |
August 29, 1978 |
Plain and thrust bearing device
Abstract
A device for reducing friction between surface planes sliding
against each other in axial thrust bearings between the shaft end
and roller in rotary roller bits and rollers for rock and earth
boring, especially at full size tunnel driving. A friction reducing
groove is arranged eccentrically in relation to the axes of the
shaft end and the roller in at least one of the surface planes
sliding against each other. Said groove is filled with material
having a friction reducing and/or lubricating effect.
Inventors: |
Svanstrom; Alf H. (Fagersta,
SE), Kangas; Karl-Erik (Fagersta, SE) |
Assignee: |
Fagersta Secoroc AB (Fagersta,
SE)
|
Family
ID: |
20327000 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/765,620 |
Filed: |
January 25, 1977 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Feb 16, 1976 [SE] |
|
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7601661 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
384/93 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F16C
33/103 (20130101); F16C 17/08 (20130101); F16C
17/04 (20130101); E21B 10/22 (20130101); F16C
33/102 (20130101); F16C 2352/00 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
E21B
10/22 (20060101); F16C 33/04 (20060101); F16C
17/08 (20060101); E21B 10/08 (20060101); F16C
17/04 (20060101); F16C 33/10 (20060101); F16C
019/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;308/8.2,4A,62 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Bertsch; Richard A.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Larson, Taylor and Hinds
Claims
What we claim is:
1. A rotary roller bit comprising a shaft end and a roller, said
roller operatively connected to the shaft end to rotate relative
thereto about an axis, said roller and shaft end including plane
surfaces facing and sliding against each other and forming axial
thrust bearing surfaces between the shaft end and the roller, and
including a friction reducing device for reducing friction at said
sliding surfaces, said device including at least one groove formed
in at least one of said sliding surfaces and located eccentrically
relative to said axis, and including a material filling the groove
and having a friction reducing effect relative to the material
forming the remainder of the said facing sliding plane
surfaces.
2. The invention of claim 1, wherein the surface plane of the
roller sliding against the shaft end has at least one friction
reducing groove disposed eccentrically in relation to the axes of
the shaft end and roller.
3. The invention of claim 1, wherein the roller has two surface
planes sliding against the shaft end, both of which have eccentric
grooves filled with a friction reducing and lubricating
material.
4. The invention of claim 1, wherein the surface plane of the shaft
end sliding against the roller has at least one friction reducing
groove, disposed eccentrically in relation to the axes of the
roller and shaft, the groove being filled with a friction reducing
and lubricating material.
5. The invention of claim 1, wherein the shaft end has two surface
planes sliding against the roller, both having eccentric grooves
which are filled with a friction reducing and lubricating
material.
6. The invention of claim 1, wherein the shaft end and the roller
have complementary sliding surface planes at the end surface of the
shaft and the bottom of the roller, respectively, and at least one
further pair of surface planes sliding against each other,
substantially parallel with the first-mentioned planes, at least
one of the planes having a friction reducing groove disposed
eccentrically in relation to the axes of the roller and shaft end,
said groove being filled with a friction reducing and lubricating
material.
7. The invention of claim 1, wherein the eccentric groove has a
rectangular cross section.
8. The invention of claim 1, wherein the eccentric grooves are
filled with silver or with a silver alloy having other alloying
substances to a maximum of 50%.
9. The invention of claim 1, wherein the eccentric grooves are
filled with a metal having good lubricating ability selected from
the group consisting of lead, tin, copper, bronze, molybdenum and
beryllium.
10. The invention of claim 1, wherein the eccentric grooves are
filled with a plastic, such as Nylon or Teflon.
11. The invention of claim 1, wherein the friction reducing and
lubricating material is cemented in the eccentric grooves.
12. The invention of claim 1, wherein said groove is formed as a
circle, which circle is located eccentrically relative to said
axis.
13. The invention of claim 1, wherein the friction reducing and
lubricating material is cast in the eccentric grooves.
14. The invention of claim 1, wherein the friction reducing and
lubricating material is pressed in the eccentric grooves.
15. The invention of claim 1, wherein the friction reducing and
lubricating material is soldered in the eccentric grooves.
16. The invention of claim 1, wherein the friction reducing and
lubricating material is brazed in the eccentric grooves.
Description
The present invention relates to a bearing construction for
reducing the coefficient of friction in plain and thrust bearing
surfaces, more specifically in the journalling of the rollers on
shaft ends in rotary roller bits and rollers for full size tunnel
driving.
In previously known rotary roller bits the rollers have been
mounted on the shaft end so that only the end surface itself of the
shaft has engaged against a contact surface in the roller, in this
way obtaining a plain thrust bearing for taking up the axial
pressure occurring during the drilling operation.
The drawbacks arising in a bearing of the kind mentioned above are
that the bearing surfaces for taking up the large axial forces to
which the rollers are exposed during drilling are very small, for
reasons of design and space, whereby a large frictional resistance
is obtained, which in turn results in large heat generation in the
bearing surfaces, and thereby great wear with accompanying short
life for the bearing structure in relation to the remaining
elements of the rotary roller bit.
During drilling, compressed air or water is flushed through the
bearing structure, to cool the bearings and at the same time
prevent mineral particles which have broken away from working their
way into the bearing structure to act there as a grinding agent on
the bearing surfaces.
When the bearings are flushed through, it is however not possible
to avoid entraining the lubricant which is packed in during
manufacture of the roller bit, whereby unsatisfactory lubrication
of the bearing surfaces is obtained. The dry and unlubricated
bearing surfaces in plain and thrust bearings especially, are
fragmented into small particles, which during their passage through
the remaining bearing construction give rise to further damage in
the rolling contact bearings.
The present invention has the object of eliminating the said
drawbacks in known bearing structures in rotary roller bits and
rollers for full size tunnel driving, the characterizing features
of the invention being apparent from the appended patent
claims.
The advantage with a bearing structure according to the invention
is that larger bearing surfaces are obtained, and that lubrication
of these is improved in a significant manner. In practical trials
it has been found that a bearing structure according to the
invention has a life greater than previously known bearing
structures, and that the bearing conditions of the rollers in a
rotary roller bit are no longer decisive for the life of the
bit.
The invention is described in detail in the following while
referring to the appended drawing, which schematically shows a
preferred embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 1 is a section through the main axis of symmetry of a roller
with associated shaft end according to the invention.
FIG. 2 is a section as in FIG. 1 but only showing the roller.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the roller according to FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a partially sectioned side view, by itself, of the shaft
end in FIG. 1.
FIG. 5 is a plan view of the shaft end according to FIG. 4.
The roller, denoted by the numeral 1, shown in the drawing figures,
is journalled on a shaft end 2, made in one piece with a portion of
its leg 3. The roller 1 is equipped with carbide teeth 4, but can
also be equipped with steel teeth integral with the roller 1. The
roller mounting comprises a radial roller bearing 5, and
axial/radial ball bearing 6 and a plain bearing 7, together with
two friction thrust bearings 8 and 9, respectively, of the axial
type. The balls in the axial/radial ball bearing 6 prevent the
roller 1 from being displaced in an axial direction in relation to
the shaft end 2, the balls being fed in through the bore 10,
whereafter it is plugged with a ball retaining plug 11 located
correctly by means of a pin 12, whereafter the retaining plug is
welded in place with a weld 13.
Flushing to cool and clean the bearing structure is usually carried
out with air, supplied through the canal 14 and distributed through
the bores 10 and 15 to the bottom of the roller and the ball
bearing location. In known cases, the bearing structure is
lubricated with high temperature grease, which, however, is blown
or washed out of the bearings by the coolant supplied during
drilling.
The improved lubrication according to the invention, primarily of
the bearing surfaces 8 and 9, is provided by eccentrically cut
grooves 16 and 17 in the roller 1, said grooves being so designed
that the greatest amount of the friction surface is covered during
rotation. Corresponding eccentrically grooves 18 and 19 can also be
cut in the friction bearing surfaces 8.sub.I and 9.sub.I in the end
surface of the shaft end. In these grooves, eccentrically in
relation to the ring, solid lubricating elements of good
lubricating ability, which are made from metal or other friction
reducing material, are accommodated. The best embodiment of said
eccentrically grooves 16, 17, 18 and 19 has found to be one with a
rectangular cross section and with the greatest possible cross
section in relation to the surfaces 8, 9 and 8.sub.I, 9.sub.I,
respectively. The friction reducing and lubricating material may be
attached within the grooves by suitable means including procedures
whereby the material is cast, pressed, soldered, brazed or cemented
in the eccentric grooves.
In practical trials with a silver alloy, having more than 50% Ag,
accommodated in the lubricating element grooves 16, 17, 18 and 19,
the bearing surfaces did not show any notable wear after the
carbide cutting teeth 4 were consumed. Neither had there been
observed any fragmentation of the friction surfaces 8, 9 and
8.sub.I, 9.sub.I, respectively. Other materials found suitable for
use as the friction reducing material include other metals such as
those selected from the group consisting of lead, tin, copper,
bronze, molybdenum and beryllium. Non-plastic materials such as
Nylon and Teflon may also be used.
The embodiment described above is only one of many possible
embodiments, and it is therefore natural for one skilled in the art
to further modify and improve the described invention within the
scope of the patent claims.
* * * * *